Courage Goes To India
by Bish
Summary: When Muriel gets an invitation to go to India to participate in a Sitar Competition, anyone who watches Courage the Cowardly Dog knows there's more to it than that!
1. The Invitation

**Author's Note**: This is my first Courage fanfic, or any fanfic for that matter, so I hope you like it.  I mean no offence to anyone Indian or from India.

We interrupt your usual fanfiction reading program to bring you the **_Courage the Cowardly Dog Show! _**. . . abandoned as a pup, he was found by Muriel, who lives in the middle of Nowhere with her husband Eustace Bagg! But creepy stuff happens in Nowhere (and and its up to Courage to save his new home!

**COURAGE GOES TO INDIA**

It was a usual day at the Bagg residence, the mild breeze blowing and the windmill squeaking in the background. Courage was resting peacefully on a rug beside the sofa watching Muriel practice her sitar on the couch. Eustace was up on the first floor taking a bath, making a considerable din. Courage sighed. This was the good life.

Just then, he noticed someone peering in through the window. It was a curious little man with a turban dressed in white robes. He was bent almost double and as soon as he saw Courage, ducked under the window.

Of course, this scared Courage to bits and pieces, literally. He managed to pull himself together and did his usual weird little incomprehensible dance in front of Muriel, hoping she would understand.

"Oh, Courage! I'd nearly finished practicing that piece on my sitar! Now I have to start all over again . . . What is it?"

But Courage couldn't explain. The doorbell rang.

"Who's that bothering us now," yelled Eustace from the bathroom. "Tell them to get off my property!"

"Let's just see who it is. You never know who might turn up at our doorstep! "said Muriel as she walked toward the door. Courage tried fiercely to stop Muriel from opening the door, but in vain.

Muriel opened the door to reveal a tall, tanned handsome looking young man. He too was wearing a turban but was dressed in a very impressive suit. Courage was shocked. He looked left and right for the other man, but there was no sign of him. The young man handed a card to Muriel and clapped his hands twice and vanished.

"Oh my! I wonder what that was all about," said Muriel as she sat back down on the sofa to open the card.

Eustace came walking down the stairs, a towel wrapped around his waist. He looked grumpy. "Who was that? Disturbing my bath!"

"Just a nice man who came to deliver this," said Muriel as she showed Eustace the card.

"Well open it then!"

By this time, Courage's interest was aroused and he too was eager to find out what was inside the card.

Muriel opened it and this was what it said:

**_INTERNATIONAL SITAR COMPETITION_**

**_Muriel Bagg_, you are hereby invited to the International Sitar Competition that will commence tomorrow in India.**

**We know you are an expert in this field and would appreciate it if you could come.**

**Contact Dr. Vindaloo who is an avid fan of the arts.**

**He will direct you to the location of the competition. Hope to see you there!**

**P.S. – There is a grand prize of $10,000!**

"I didn't know I was that good at playing the sitar! Oh well, it's only polite to accept an invitation . . ." said Muriel.

"I ain't goin' to India! I like it right here," said Eustace, stamping his foot.

"Well, it says there's a ten thousand dollar prize . . ." said Muriel.

Eustace's eyes shone. "Well, I guess I could come. Someone's got to manage all that money!"

"Ooooh, I don't like the sound of this!" thought Courage. But of course, there was nothing he could do.


	2. Getting There

**Chapter 2 **

So Muriel, Eustace and Courage packed their bags (and Muriel's sitar) and got into Eustace's truck to drive into town. Of course, this was after much grumbling from Eustace, but they made it to town in the end.

They stopped at the doctor's office and made it inside. After getting an appointment and waiting for a long while, they finally got to see Dr. Vindaloo.

As soon as they trooped into the office, Dr. Vindaloo looked at Muriel and said, " I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do. Nothing at all."

"But we haven't even told you what we came here for!" said Muriel.

"Oh, yes, I see. Well, what is it then?"

Muriel handed him the invitation card. "Hmmm, this is the most interesting specimen of a scab I've ever seen . . . ," started Dr. Vindaloo.

"No! Read the card, doctor!"

All this while, Courage was watching all that was happening, growing more and more afraid. He knew something wasn't right. He tried dancing around Muriel but it didn't help.

After reading the card, the doctor's eyes widened. "Yes, I've heard about the competition, but I thought they had cancelled it. Too many bad things would happen to the contestants . . . oh, well I guess they must have fixed the problem!"

"Bad things? This is _not_ good!" thought Courage.

"When do we get the money?" asked Eustace impatiently.

"We have to first compete, Eustace dear," said Muriel. Eustace just grumbled, as usual.

"Let's see now, how do we get there . . . let me see if I can remember," said Dr. Vindaloo. He spent a few minutes figuring out how to get to India. "Ah yes . . ." He clapped his hands twice and !poof! – They were in India.

It was a bustling street with tourists as well as citizens walking up and down. The Taj Mahal could be seen in the background.

"Oooh, the Taj Mahal! I would love to visit it . . . I think it's very romantic. What do you think, Eustace?" pleaded Muriel.

"Bah, I ain't goin' to no Taj Mahal! I just want the money! Lousy stinking competition, why can't they just give me the money?"

"Oh dear, this is going to be very difficult," thought Courage.

"I'm afraid we have to get to the competition venue as soon as possible. It's about to start, according to my calculations," said Dr. Vindaloo.

"Oh well, I guess we'll have to go some other time," sighed Muriel.

"Hehehehe . . ." said Eustace.

Dr. Vindaloo whistled and a carriage appeared, but it was pulled by a blue bull, rather than a horse. They got in and the doctor whispered something into its ear and it started off.

After about ten minutes, it came to a stop in front of a brick wall.

"This is it?" scoffed Eustace.

"No, there is a special entrance that can be opened by only a true sitar player," said Dr. Vindaloo.

Courage rolled his eyes.

"May, I have your sitar?" asked the doctor to Muriel.

"Of course," answered Muriel who handed it to him. He sat down and played a few notes, which sounded like magic to Courage.

A small hole appeared in the wall which grew bigger and bigger until it was big enough for all of them to pass through. As they entered, Courage thought maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

But when they had all stepped into the other side of the wall, the hole closed up behind them with a cackle of laughter from somewhere far away. Courage decided he was wrong about what he had thought.


End file.
